Travel Industry Struggles Means Serious Savings for You and Me

"Prices are dropping for all kinds of travel and vacation opportunities, but you have to know where to find the true 'under-the-radar' deals," said David Easterbrooks, president of Good Fortune Travel and Lifestyle.

"Giant online travel discounters like Travelocity, Orbitz, and Priceline simply do not have the best deals any more."
 

True story:  I was searching through Craigslist for a used table saw, and by responding to an ad, ended up visiting a lady in a nice end of town because the saw sounded nice and the price was within my budget.  

I needed a table saw to finish some projects around our little Cape Cod but did not want to pay for a new one.

Always open for a great deal, especially on 1 income, I went and bought the saw because it had barely been used and was cheaper than I could get it anywhere else, but. . .

what happened next was one of those crazy, once-in-a-lifetime events. . .

We were talking to the owner (lady) of the table saw, when this man (David Easterbrooks from Oceanside, California) came out to join the conversation.

Though we did not know him from Adam, we learned through a little bit of casual conversation that we were friends with some of the same, Columbus people.

Not only did we have friends in common, but we both had been working with these friends on various projects in the marketplace and had never crossed paths.

So one thing led to another and we ended up seeing this online presentation on a newer vacation and travel membership website that offers week long 5-star condominiums and thousands of other true wholesale-direct, "under the radar" deals that I initially thought were too good to be true.

I had never seen these kinds of prices even on major discount search engines.

I have always heard about travel clubs and time-shares, but the idea of regular or luxury travel was never truly on the radar for our family because of the combination of expenses and opportunity challenges (having 2 babies and a teen-ager).

My wife, Jennifer, and I thought, "If this is really true, we could actually afford to take a great family vacation this year." 

So we decided to check it out.

I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical, but

When David showed us some of the discounts, the every-day hotel rates they had, it got my attention. . .

They work directly with the Wyndham family of properties so Wyndham guarantees the lowest prices to all of their own hotel brand including 

They also offer thousands of "unused-inventory" at basement-wholesale pricing to thousands of other hotel locations in the states and around the world including. . .

As Jen and I checked out these travel opportunities, we discovered "absolute ridiculous" prices on all kinds of daily, business, and vacation travel (yea for us!!).

For members, all of these wholesale and discount travel opportunities are accessible in your own private, online travel engine in the Premium Membership for $265 annually, or the Grand Premium for $650 *** and remember *** no monthly fees or hidden costs.

"It's like your own Travelocity, Priceline, Orbitz on steroids!",

David said.

"Most people start with the Premium Package ($265) to begin instantly saving on hotels, car rentals and other trips for business, family and ministry and get their money back with the first 1 or 2 hotel stays,  and then upgrade to the Grand Premium by paying the $450 upgrade before they plan their  major vacation so they end up saving thousands of dollars on week long condos,  all-inclusive resorts, air/hotel discount packages, and hundreds of world-wide cruise opportunities .

For 80% of people and families, the premium membership covers all of their daily, business, and vacation travel needs, and they simply upgrade and pay the difference when they are ready to plan their major family vacation or second honeymoon.  

Some people are using the premium membership to give a vacation gift to a friend, family member or pastor.

The applications are virtually endless!"

So I asked him,

"You can start with the main premium package and then upgrade at any time by simply paying the difference between the two membership prices?"

and he said "that's it!"

Then another question surfaced.  

"What happens next year when people want to re-new their membership?"

David told me that annual membership renewal is simple.

"You pay your premium membership fee $214.95 annual and

the Grand Premium Renewal (which includes the Premium) is discounted to $399.00"

He said that this is not only an added incentive for people to stay involved, but it is a nice way of saying "thank you" for remaining a member.

So what are some other differences between the Premium and Grand Premium Memberships?

Digging a bit further, I wanted to understand the benefits of getting the grand premium versus just the premium package.

David said,

"For starters, the Premium Membership ($265) is included in the Grand Premium membership ($650).  

The Grand Premium membership is actually better than a timeshare because it offers many more travel options at the same great luxury resorts without all of the booking fees, monthly maintenance costs and often-times exorbitant entrance fees.  

Plus, you never have the burden of selling your timeshare.

Also, the Grand Premium membership offers TRUE wholesale-direct pricing on hundreds of deluxe cruises, week-long condominium resorts, all inclusive resorts and hotel/air packages around the world for 'pennies-on-the-dollar'".

"Thousands of unused RCI timeshare properties around the world for pennies-on-the-dollar."

David also explained that we have thousands of un-used, unbooked, and un-rented RCI timeshare properties around the world.

"Because of our relationship with the Wyndham family of properties, who also owns RCI - one of the largest Timeshare Companies in the World, we get access to thousands of unused inventory that are NOT available to the public, large travel engines and brokers. . . 

You have to be a member and believe me, this is one place where membership has advantages!"

(***Screen shot of a few of the thousands of real-time deals at basement-wholesale prices in the "Grand Premium" Membership ***)

David jokingly said "It's cheaper for me to take a cruise than to live at home . . . plus they feed you all day and clean up after you!"

• Week-long 1, 2, 3 bedroom Condos all over the country for $157 - not per person- for the whole family!
• 5 day and night cruises to tropical places and Canadian places for $300 per person (all inclusive).
• 5 Nights in Las Vegas -  Air  Fare and Hotel Included - $378

and the list of deals goes on and on. . . 

and, as a natural, sometimes self-defeating skeptic, I knew there had to be a catch.

So, what's the catch?

Being naturally frugal and skeptical, I always do my homework on ideas like this.

Especially when I am unfamiliar with a product or industry.

I figured there had to be a catch somewhere.

After weeks of investigation and learning about the current travel economy and how major travel Real Estate Moguls are having to re-invent and package their unused inventory, I realized there is no catch.  

The product is real and many are already saving hundreds and thousands of dollars on everything from 1 and 2 night hotel stays to 5-star resorts and cruise packages.

Come to find out, it is much better for the properties to have someone fill the un-used inventory to cover maintenance cost than to have them sit empty.

Additionally, when people visit condos and time-shares, they often end up investing in a time-share or re-visiting because they like the location.

From my background in marketing research, manufacturers of all kinds of products from toothpaste to potato chips have used a loss-leader strategy for decades to cover their marketing costs and gain exposure for their products, yet this is not a loss-leader with Good Fortune Travel & Lifestyle.

"It's like getting a Steak and Lobster dinner at a hamburger price"

David continued explaining,

"If people the product, they will want more.  In this case, if they like the vacation property, they will most likely visit again and tell all of their friends as well."

"Most companies out there advertising ridiculously low prices on vacation properties and other travel bargains operate on "loss-leaders".  

In other words, they take a HUGE hit on 1 product to get you "in-the-door" and then you find out that there are not a lot of true wholesale deals as an insider.

With our company (Good Fortune Travel), thousands of wholesale deals are coming in every day because we have over 40 buying agents who buy these un-used inventory all day long, every day, across thousands of travel locations and companies.  

They "cherry-pick" the best deals of un-used inventory and because of the inside access they have, you and I get these true wholesale-direct prices.

Many of these under-the-radar deals are not even available to major public travel engines like Travelocity, Orbitz, AAA and Priceline to name a few." 

Over the ensuing weeks, I continued to research and learned more about the vacation industry and it's current economic state.  

Come to find out, multi-million and billion dollar hotel, resort, condo, cruise lines and other Real Estate companies have been feeling the economic crunch for quite some time due to American and Global economic instability.

So in order to keep cash flow coming in, many companies have created discount membership clubs, frequent use rewards, or hired experts like David Easterbrooks and the company owner, Jonnathan King to develop their own travel membership companies whereby hundreds of thousands of hotel and vacation units can be filled by inside members at true wholesale direct prices, almost always cheaper than major travel "discounters" like Orbitz, Priceline and Travelocity. 

Those travel engines can offer discounts from Retail Pricing because of their bulk-ordering power, however, Good Fortune Travel offers lower prices because it is truly wholesale-direct for members.  

Good Fortune travel offers "jaw-dropping" prices because Jon King's technology company (about us page) develops the computer vacation and travel feeds over the last 10 years with some of the largest wholesale travel companies in the US.

It's your typical "Perfect Storm" that equates to a great deal for everyone involved.

Jonnathan's long-term, inside working relationship with all of these travel and vacation companies has allowed him to launch the Good Fortune Travel and Lifestyle Membership which is offered for thousands of dollars less than what other time-share and vacation memberships are currently offering.

So this answered another question of mine. . . 

I simply didn't understand how deals like this were possible, but now it makes sense to me. . .

(*** snapshot of some of the week-long condo resort prices ***)
- note- these prices are for the entire condo for the entire week,
whether a couple goes, a family goes or two families split the cost

But isn't Good Fortune Travel just like any other "Travel Club" or "Timeshare"?

In getting to know Jon King's background with the travel industry, he has operated a very successful technology company for over 15 years, serving these major travel company giants, and over the course of time has developed unique, inside relationships with many of the key people and owners.

These unique relationships enabled Jon to build his travel and lifestyle membership company, offering these great deals at hundreds of dollars instead of thousands of dollars.  

With Jon King's Good Fortune Travel:

• There are no monthly fees
• No Middle-Men agencies and brokers allows for true wholesale pricing
• No giant time-share booking obligations
• Reduced / low annual renewal fees
• You can quit any time without having to sell your expensive timeshare
• No monthly minimums or obligations to travel
• 5-Day right of rescission if you decide you don't want the membership
• Good Fortune Travel will even pay you for every referral membership (from $25 to $150)

Also, because of the special relationship with Wyndham Family of Properties (who also owns RCI - one of the largest timeshare companies in the USA) members get the lowest wholesale prices on all Wyndham properties and these deals are not available to the public.

It was a no brainer for us - why pay discounted retail for a hotel again?

To me, this revenue sharing thing was a major bonus.

• Williamsburg Plantation in Williamsburg, VA for 1 week - 2 bedroom condo for $104 (not kidding!)
• Daytona Beach - Diamond Resort Location - 1 week - 1 BR 7 nights $104
• Peppertree By The Sea North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina - 1 week - 2 BR - 7 nights  $104
• Stoneridge Resort Blanchard, Idaho - 1 week - 1 BR - 7 nights  $104

So how does one get started as a member with Good Fortune Travel?

About the author:  Aaron Schulman is a web developer near Columbus Ohio, and a regular family man with a wonderful wife, Jennifer and 3 daughters.  He enjoys developing websites, doing product reviews, wine-making, golf, listening to music, writing music, copywriting, playing his guitar, traveling and cooking.   He is the owner of Aimadvantage.com and some other websites projects.